Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1887-11-09
who Should own he Land !

The Iowa Farmers Alliance 10 one res
oIution Of their platform adopted At Des
Moines declared that title to real estate
ahould not be acquired BY ssnon-resIdent
aliens or corporations We can zee no
good reason for their stopping where they
did. We maintain that not only no for
eign corporations should be permitted to
own real estate In the United States, but
that no alien whether resident or non-res-
ident should be allowed to own foot Of
land 10 this country.
There was time when public land was
80 plenty In America that it seemed as il
the only aim Of the government was to
get rid OF 1t. In pursuance Of this idea
millions Of acres Of the public domain
were given away to aid any corporation
which asked aid, under the pretense Of
developing the country, no distinction be-
ing made between foreign and domestic
corporations or II any was made it was so
slight as to be easily evaded. In the same
way land was given to aliens to induce
them to come to our shores and settle up
the country. The result was that mill
lions Of emigrants came to the United
States and settling upon these free lands
transformed the wilderness into rich and
productive farms. That In the main these
emigrants became good American citizens
and credit and benefit to the country
Is also true. Such course under the cir
cumstances may have been the wisest at
that time. but there has been a great
change In circumstances and what was
perhaps the best policy at one time is to-
day utterly indefensible. The public do
main is to all practical purposes exhaust
ed. Only the remnants and ragged edges
of what once seemed an inexhaustible en-
pire now remains for settlement, the title
to all else having passed from the govern
ment to private persons and corporations.
In view Of this we think change Of poll
cy should be made and the scattered rem
Hants kept for the use Of our own people
instead Of given away to outsiders While
we are not prepared to say we desire no
more immigration to this country we do
say we want none but the best and think
that IL no foreigner could acquire title to
any real estate until he became fully nat
uralized it would do much to accomplish
this result.
Under the present system the alien has
an advantage over the natural born Amer
lean citizen and in many places colonies
of foreigners have settled upon the very
best of the lands and bringing their own
customs and language do not become as
simulated but set up little kingdoms Of
their own as different from, and as antag-
onistic to the principles and customs Of
our own government as are the countries
they came from. To illustrate our point,
in Dakota there are large settlements Of
Russians who come In colonies and as for
Instance in Hutchinson county have COM
plete control OF the municipal govern
ment. They do not have to wait any
any length of time to become naturalized
but under the territorial laws can vote as
soon as their first papers are filed. In
this way to-day the control Of this coun-
ty is in the hands Of people who should
not and in most of the states would not be
permitted to vote, and never having be-
come assimilated to our ways, the result
being that no teacher can get a position
who will conduct school in the English
language. A direct descendent OF the
Pilgrim fathers could not go into Dakota
and vote until after residence Of three
months, while any emigrant who comes
may vote the next day after his arrival
within the territory. Prohibiting the ac-
quisirion Of real estate until after COM
plete naturalization would to all intents
and purposes do away with such outrages.
The Alliance did well in making SO
strong resolution as it did but would do
better to make it stronger.